Recovery
by les4love
Summary: Bette and Tina's world and relationship are turned upside down with the commission of a horrible crime, leaving them - and their friends - to pick up the pieces and attempt to recovery from the trauma.


Bette stood in the living room, irritably glancing at the clock on the wall and then out the window to the driveway. She looked down at her cell phone, opening it to check for a text message – for the tenth time in five minutes – and angrily snapped it shut when nothing was there. She rapidly paced to the window to get a better view of the street and then back to the middle of the room, her ball gown moving beautifully around her designer heels. She was the picture of grace, despite the anger that was written all over her face. Her gown was black with hand embroidered, gold embellishments of beautiful flowers and dragonflies, topped with a sweetheart neckline on the tightly fitted bodice and held up by tiny black strings that served as straps and that crossed to make a beautiful square pattern on her upper back. The bodice of the gown dropped to her hips rather than sitting at her waistline, the line glittering with gold beads and tiny baubles. The skirt was full and flowing, the many layers of tulle hidden beneath the layers of black, embroidered silk filling the skirt out like a bubble that looked as though it would carry Bette away at any moment.

"Where the hell is she? I told her how important this is, how could she just not show up?" Bette looked at Alice, who just shrugged as she sat on the couch, watching Bette pace and grow angrier with each passing moment.

"Maybe she and Oscar got held up and they went straight there."

Bette looked at her and shook her head, "Not without calling. Or at least texting."

"Maybe her phone died and she went straight there hoping to catch you. Didn't she take a dress to work?"

Bette nodded, "Yes but not the dress she really wanted to wear. I guess we don't have a choice but to leave. She'll either be there or she won't."

Alice nodded and stood up to get ready to leave with Bette. Her gown paled in comparison to Bette's; it was made of a champagne hued slip with gold embroidery at the top, topped with a sheer, flowing layer that was the same champagne color. It was simple, with i embellished straps holding up the straight line of fabric that seemed to float across her breasts. The dress was simple, almost too plain, but it held an ethereal quality that suited Alice perfectly.

She followed Bette out the front door, practically feeling the heat from Bette's anger as they got into the limousine that had been waiting for the last hour. "Just give her the benefit of the doubt, Bette. You know Tina would never purposely blow off something that you guys planned, especially something this important. She knows you're getting an award, she would never ditch that."

Bette nodded, her shoulders began to visibly relax as they sat in the limousine and drove down the LA streets to the banquet in Bette's honor. "I know that Tina wouldn't just blow me off, especially not this. And Oscar wouldn't let her – Tina is being honored tonight as well, she just doesn't know it yet." Bette shook her head and looked at her phone again. "I just wish I could get ahold of her. I think she should have at the very least texted me. But I'm sure you're right, I'm sure she was running late and went straight there."

Alice smiled at her and nodded, "See, no need to be upset when there could be a perfectly sensible explanation."

Bette stood in the center of the banquet hall, scanning the crowd for Tina while trying to politely talk with the people congratulating her and trying to hold a discussion about her recent activities at the CAC. But the clock kept ticking, signaling the passing of time before the awards were officially presented, and still no sign of Tina. Finally, after almost an hour, Bette saw Oscar making his way around the crowd to make sure that he had some interaction with as many people as possible.

Bette bee-lined towards him, determined to find out why she saw him but did not see Tina. "Oscar,". She called. Over the noise in the room. He registered her voice immediately and looked over to her with a smile.

"Bette, hello! I'm glad to see you made it tonight. I know the committee is very excited to have you on their stage, it's taken them a while to get someone who has such a huge impact on the community on their side."

Bette smiled, determined to get right to the point, "I'm flattered, I really am, but right now I'm more concerned with finding Tina. Where is she? I assume she came with you, right?"

Oscar. Frowned, "No, she left headquarters at four o'clock. She didn't go home?"

Bette shook her head, her anger quickly subsiding. "No, she didn't. I haven't heard from her since lunch."

Oscar excused himself from the rest of the crowd and stepped aside to talk to Bette where he could hear her. "Have you been calling her?"

"No," Bette said, "Just texting, but I haven't tried calling her." Bette pulled her phone out and immediately dialed Tina's number. Her anxiety spiked when it went straight to voicemail and Bette realized that she needed to be worried at this point. It was not like Tina to disappear; she always made it a point to call, to text, no matter how difficult it was to find the minute. And she would never have intentionally disappeared when something so important was happening, she would have done anything to make sure that she was there when Bette was honored with something so important. It just wasn't like Tina to not be there, and so Bette knew that something must be seriously, life-threateningly wrong.

FOUR HOURS EARLIER

Tina walked to her car, jiggling her keys nervously. This was a bad neighborhood, one that always made her anxious to get home. She was always happy to go see her clients where they lived, she was happy to help them in the places that they needed her the most, but she usually tried to be on her way home before dark. Walking down these streets, even driving down these streets, after dark was dangerous. This neighborhood wasn't known for having the best people, it certainly wasn't known for being a safe neighborhood to live in and it was even less safe to visit, so Tina was always sure not to stay any longer than she needed to. She reached her car and unlocked it quickly, getting into the drivers side and closing the door. She turned the key over in the ignition and reached for her cell phone, but it wasn't in her pocket. She tried to think for a second, she was sure she had put it in her pocket; she dug through her purse, desperately hoping that it wasn't laying in the street somewhere, but it was nowhere to be found. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat for a moment, then she opened the car door and stepped back onto the street, scouring the ground for her phone. She saw it lighting up about half way down the block, laying on the pavement in the road – Tina looked up and down the street, unsure of how comforted she was to see that she was totally alone. It was silent, except for the sound of her phone ringing in the road. Tina took in a breath, then stepped into the street and towards her phone. She tried to walk at a normal pace, but her instincts screamed at her to move faster, to get out of the street and back into her car. Part of her was even saying to leave the phone and just replace it. She could hear the ringer – Bette's ringtone – carrying through the street, the increase in volume comforting her as it meant she was close to the phone and therefore close to turning around and walking back to her car. She scooped the phone up off the ground and spun around, eager to get back to her car. Another look up and down the street assured her, once again, that she was alone in the street. She walked quickly back to her car, relief inching over her with each step closer she got.

Tina reached her car and pulled the door back open, but before she could get into the car she felt an arm wrap around her neck and a hand close over her mouth. Tina's hands let go of her phone and the car door, shooting up to grip the arm that was gripping her so tightly that she could hardly breath. She struggled, kicking her legs and arching her back in a desperate attempt to break free from the mystery grip, but she couldn't free herself. As she writhed and twisted, trying to scream loud enough through the muffling hand, the set of arms swung her body into the side of the car, slamming her head against the car door and easily knocking her out. Tina stopped struggling and her body went limp as everything went black.

The man opened the back door of her car and folded her body into the backseat. He picked her phone up off the ground, noting the crack in the screen from the struggle, tossed it into the passenger seat and then got into Tina's car, looked around before putting it in gear, and drove away.


End file.
